This week Jo and Steph are live from The Sheridan Story warehouse in Minneapolis, interviewing Rob Williams, the Executive director.

After a call for help from a local school which had discovered children hoarding food on Fridays because of food insecurity over the weekends, The Sheridan Story began to provide Friday food packages to children in need.

Working with local faith communities, The Sheridan Story enables them to partner with local schools providing the logistic know-how. They are now helping over 120 schools and 15,000 children in the Minneapolis area.

In this inspiring interview find out:

- Why providing children with these food packages makes such a difference to their future and the future of society

- How The Sheridan Story began

- How The Sheridan Story gives ‘dignified’ food packages and why that is important

- How Rob’s previous experience and jobs he struggled with helped prepare him to develop and lead The Sheridan Story.

- Steph’s childhood nickname!

It costs a cup of coffee to support one child with a food package each weekend. Find out how you can donate and get involved at www.thesheridanstory.com

1) What do you think about churches offering services without expecting anything in return? What do you think about churches providing services whilst expecting something in return? (Attendance, access to relationships, formal opportunities to give a Gospel message…) At what point does it become ’prostitution’ rather than love from the church?

2) How often do you / your church offer services to others rather than asking them what they really need and doing that instead? Why could meeting people where they are at be an effective way of building relationships with those outside the church? Can you think of any occasions where Jesus or the disciples responded to needs rather than offered services?

3) Where could you / your church support a local school? Who has connections with a local school that you know where you could find out what services your local school needs?

4) ’All kids are our kids. All children are from God and bear God’s image.’ How should this impact the way you and your church view children in the wider community?

Working with survivors of trafficking, addiction and prostitution, Becca Stevens developed Thistlefarms social enterprise as a way to meet the economic needs of those women. The project began with a residential community of just 5 women and is now the largest national enterprise run by survivors. Jo chats with Becca about her dream to create a sanctuary for women survivors, her journey to ordination and some of the key ingredients in helping her to survive and thrive in leadership. Jo and Becca also share how their recent trip to Haiti has impacted them. Listen in to find out what Becca is currently excited about, and what she means by saying she is ‘more interested in bold leadership than servant leadership’. Check out: Thistlefarms products in Wholefoods stores and online: www.thistlefarms.orgBooks: Check out Becca’s books at: http://www.beccastevens.org/books/ Look out for Love heals when it is released! Also check out this article on Thistlefarms and Becca on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/02/us/cnn-hero-becca-stevens/index.htmlDiscussion questions: 1) Dream time! What dreams are in your heart? Take some time to share. 2) God told David ‘not you, not now’ when he dreamed of building a temple, so obviously now is not the time for every dream to be realized. However, where are you too busy to invest in the dreams that God is calling you to work with now? What are you going to do about it? 3) Would you describe yourself as a bold leader? Why or why not? What do you think it means to be bold in Christ? Where is the Holy Spirit encouraging you to be bold in your leadership right now? Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:Twitter:@LeadStoriesVoxInstagram:@LeadStoriesPodcastFacebook: LeadStoriesPodcastConnect with Jo at:www.josaxton.com@josaxtonConnect with Steph at:www.pastorsteph.com@pastorstephMPLSSubscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen atwww.leadstoriespodcast.com

Meet Amy Boucher-Pye, an American writer and leader who lives in London, England.

This week Jo chats with Amy about what leadership looks like for her and why she has found it hard to see herself as a leader at times. Amy shares about how God helped her to forgive a person who betrayed her, what she has learned about what forgiveness looked like in the Old and New Testament and some of the costs of leadership.

Amy also shares some of the practical exercises she uses on retreats to help people forgive and express grief (see discussion questions and exercises below).

1) Amy says: ‘We have to learn to forgive or it hurts us.’ Share a time when God helped you forgive someone who had hurt you. What were some of the things that helped the forgiveness process?

2) Spend some time praying and asking God to show you if there is any one you need to forgive. Take or make a cross and when you are ready place the name of that person on the cross. Remembering that the cross was a place of exchange, so take some time to stay at the cross to receive what God wants to give to you.

3) Take some time to write down a lament - a grief or something you cannot change. Be specific and then find a space (ideally a wall, but be creative!) where you can deposit your lament prayer as a way of releasing it.

Whether they are intentional or not, we all have routines and rituals in our lives. Positively or negatively, they shape our leadership, relationships and productivity.

This week Jo and Steph discuss the rituals and routines they have found helpful to be intentional about in their lives, from prayer practices, retreat days, physical health, review and mentoring.

Jo and Steph discuss questions such as:

- How can we embrace helpful rituals without becoming legalistic?

- What practices can help us be more aware of what God is doing?

- What if my rituals don’t make me feel good - are they still worth continuing?

- Why is looking after our bodies so important to leadership?

- What difference do morning and night routines make to our lives?

Discussion questions:

1) What are your prayer and retreat rituals? Are you happy with them? Is there anything you would like to change?

2) Rate how well you look after your body from 1 to 10. What are the rituals connected with eating and exercise which are supporting your life and leadership and which ones are holding you back?

3) What are your morning and evening routines and rituals? Are you being intentional about them? Is there anything you would like to change to make sure those spaces are life-giving (spiritually, emotionally, physically) and fuel the rest of your day?